Context and question
CIM Capital is a Belgian investment fund focusing on companies in difficulties. Over the last few years, CIM Capital has realized several successful restructurings in Belgium. With their typical hands-on approach and by being involved both financially as operationally, they create “turnaround situations”.
In 2022 they encountered a new target, a software player. After many years of product development, this company developed a number of high-end applications; however, they have not yet managed to accomplish a breakthrough. For instance, because of the strongly prevailing product and inventor focus, there was limited focus on structurally building a customer portfolio with volume opportunities. They also paid insufficient attention to the commercialization of the product according to the potential customer segments. Consequently, in 2022 the company was in trouble and a quick investment decision was crucial to secure its future.
In order to substantiate and accelerate the acquisition decision, positively or negatively, CIM Capital asked us to conduct a market and commercial analysis to complement their financial and technological due diligence. This involved asking the following strategic questions:
- What are the market opportunities of the developed technology?
- With what sharp positioning can the company differentiate itself from the competition?
- Who are the primary and secondary target groups?
- What are the ‘differentiating assets’ that illustrate the company’s unique added value?